


Child Mayhem

by disneyswiftie



Series: Tyrus Oneshots [25]
Category: Andi Mack (TV)
Genre: Episode: s03e13 Mount Rushmore Or Less (mentioned), Episode: s03e15 Unloading Zone (mentioned), Explanations, Fluff, Gay Disaster T. J. Kippen, Getting Together, Insecure T. J. Kippen, Insecurity, Light Angst, Love Confessions, M/M, Post-Episode: s03e20 We Were Here, Post-Finale, Smitten T. J. Kippen, The Swing Set (Andi Mack), fluffyyy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-08
Updated: 2020-06-08
Packaged: 2021-03-03 22:01:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,177
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24602791
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/disneyswiftie/pseuds/disneyswiftie
Summary: A week after the finale, TJ invites Cyrus to the kids gym again. But...kids have no filter.Afterwards, they hang out at the swings. Conversations ensue.
Relationships: Cyrus Goodman/T. J. Kippen
Series: Tyrus Oneshots [25]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1720249
Comments: 5
Kudos: 108





	Child Mayhem

**Author's Note:**

  * For [amoreflos](https://archiveofourown.org/users/amoreflos/gifts).



> Prompt by @mxntyyx: It's after the bench scene and TJ invites Cyrus to the kids gym. The kids see something's up.
> 
> So... I kind of got carried away and made it a lot longer than I anticipated. In other words; the actual prompt takes up less than half of the oneshot...
> 
> But I hope that you guys enjoy it anyway! Have a great day/night!

It was about a week after Andi's party, and school was officially out for the summer. TJ and Cyrus hadn't really talked about what they were yet, but there was some sort of mutual understanding that they liked each other as more than friends. They both just weren't sure how to talk about it.

While they were hanging out at The Spoon, Cyrus was showing TJ his newest installment of "tater theatre" and TJ just about died on the spot. He thought it was the cutest thing ever and didn't know how he wasn't in a puddle on the ground already. When Cyrus finished, TJ applauded him with the biggest grin on his face.

"That was great, Underdog," TJ enthusiastically told him.

"Thank you, that was episode 37, and there's plenty more to come!" Cyrus said, jokingly.

TJ checked the time on his phone and realized he had to go. "I'd love to see it sometime, but I have to go to work now. Do you wanna go with me again? The kids really miss you."

"Sure! Wouldn't want to disappoint them, they _are_ adorable," Cyrus giggled, getting out of his seat to follow him.

He had kind of wanted to add, _'just like you'_ , but he was worried that was too much, so he kept it to himself. They still hadn't talked about what happened on the bench at all, so he didn't really know exactly how TJ felt; just that it was something more than normal friends. He didn't want to push anything, in fear of losing him.

As they walked to the gym alongside each other, it seemed as if TJ was purposely brushing their hands together every chance he got. Cyrus wanted so badly just to grab the blonde's hand in his and interlock their fingers, just like on the bench merely a week ago. He was too nervous to do that, though, so he just let TJ's hand keep brushing up against his, causing him to blush furiously while looking away.

Meanwhile, TJ was driving himself crazy trying to work up the courage to just hold Cyrus' hand again. It took all his bravery to do it the first time, and it was amazing feeling Cyrus's hand in his, but he didn't know why he was so shy to take that plunge again.

Except he knew exactly why. It had been an entire week since the party and they hadn't addressed anything that had happened between them. What if Cyrus had realized he had made a mistake? What if he didn't actually feel the same way, and wanted to pretend that nothing ever happened? A million insecurities ran through TJ's head and it just made him even more nervous.

When they finally arrived at the gym, Cyrus looked up at TJ and smiled, before they both entered and made their presence known to the kids.

"Hey guys! Are you ready for a great day today?" TJ enthused, loudly.

"Yeah!" the kids shouted out together.

"Now, I've brought a special visitor today. He's been here before so I'm sure you remember him. Please give a warm welcome to Cyrus!"

All the kids cheered as Cyrus gave a small wave and smile. "Hi," he greeted the children, timidly.

"Cyrus is going to be spending the day with us today, does that sound fun?" TJ continued.

"Yay!!" they all screamed, excitedly.

"Alright, let's get started with some warm-ups, then," TJ told them. "We don't want anyone to get hurt, now do we?"

* * *

TJ was helping a small redhead girl onto the climbing net, while Cyrus was waiting at the bottom of a slide a few feet away, for a kid to come down.

Suddenly, the girl asked TJ, "is Cyrus your boyfriend?"

This sent TJ into a coughing fit as he turned bright red. Cyrus listened intently, blushing lightly while smiling, but TJ didn't notice as he was too busy trying to figure out how to respond to that.

"Wha- where did _that_ come from?" TJ stuttered, feeling slightly light-headed.

"You guys keep smiling at each other every chance you get!" she exclaimed, an excited smile on her face. "And you keep making excuses to touch his hand and chest."

A young boy with light reddish-brown hair had arrived at the end of the slide by now, and was very entertained watching this whole thing.

A blonde girl piped up from the other side of the room, "not to mention you're always talking about him, even when he's not here!"

"I don't _always_ talk about him!" TJ spluttered. "You guys are the ones that said you missed him!"

"Well, yeah, but that's because it was obvious how much you wanted to bring him back," the boy by the slide added in.

"So we gave you our approval!" the blonde girl finished.

Did _everyone_ know about his feelings for Cyrus? He wouldn't be surprised if the kids had already told his _boss_ by now. They weren't very good at keeping secrets.

"Would you cut it out?" TJ hissed quietly, to ensure Cyrus wouldn't hear.

"Sure," the redheaded girl — now officially on the climbing net — spoke, feigning an innocent smile.

"Is that true?" Cyrus asked as he walked closer to TJ, a slight smile tugging at his lips. "Do you talk about me to the kids?"

The girl that TJ helped onto the net gave Cyrus a look that said, _'yes, he really does, don't listen to him.'_

TJ glared at the girl and gave a fake cough, desperately changing the subject, "alright, we need to focus, guys." Then he turned to the reddish-brunette boy and said, "Brandon, you said you wanted to learn how to do a flip on the bar, right?"

"Yes!" Brandon pumped his fist, ecstatic that TJ finally thought he was ready.

* * *

Once TJ's shift was over and all the kids had gone home, TJ was finishing cleaning up some chocolate milk a kid had spilled near the snack section. Cyrus was just sitting near the door texting with the GHC group chat about Andi's latest crush-drama while waiting for TJ to be done.

Finally, he heard TJ walking over to him, and looked up to see TJ standing there with his hands in his pockets. He couldn't help noticing that TJ looked nervous about something. He put his phone away and stood up, speaking to TJ.

"You ready to go?" he asked.

"Yep," TJ said, trying for a smile.

Cyrus frowned in concern. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, of course," TJ lied.

Cyrus smiled sadly but didn't push him. They started to walk out the door and down the street. A lot was on Cyrus' mind, except for the one thing that TJ was worried about. The moment seemed to have slipped his mind.

"I'm...sorry about earlier," TJ spoke suddenly, looking down at his shoes.

Cyrus racked his brain for what TJ could be talking about, but came up with nothing. "Earlier?" he questioned.

"Um, with-with the kids." TJ seemed somehow... ashamed about something, and Cyrus couldn't figure out why.

"Oh. Why are you sorry? You didn't do anything."

"Well, I mean," TJ scratched the back of his neck, "if you were uncomfortable, or..."

Cyrus stopped and turned to face TJ. "I wasn't uncomfortable, you don't have to worry so much," he gently assured him. "I know I already asked this, but are you okay?"

TJ breathed out heavily, in a sort of relieved way. "Yeah. I'm okay."

They slightly smiled at each other and then kept on walking.

"So where are we going?" Cyrus wondered.

"Swings?" TJ suggested.

"Sounds great," Cyrus said, while grinning.

* * *

When they got to the park, they each sat down on their respective swing, pushing themselves forward. Like usual, TJ was swinging much higher than Cyrus.

"Still not gonna go any higher?" TJ asked, smirking a bit.

"Nope," Cyrus replied nonchalantly. "I'm good here."

"Suit yourself!" TJ said, and jumped off the swing.

Cyrus immediately pushed his feet to the ground, stopping himself in his tracks. He was suddenly hit with a memory he wouldn't soon forget.

-

_Cyrus was walking through the park, holding the dark blue shirt he had planned to give to TJ. As he came up behind a tree, he'd heard the all-too-familiar voice of a certain someone that had been occupying all of TJ's time._

_"Never!" was the word that escaped Kira's lips._

_Then, he looked past the tree as he leaned up against it. TJ was swinging with Kira. Right next to **their** swings. Guess it wasn't as special as he'd thought._

_"I bet I can jump further!" Kira told TJ as Cyrus continued to watch the interaction._

_"Oh, well you're about to be wrong again!" TJ responded._

_"3..." Kira started to count. He thought he was going to be sick._

_"2..." they both said together._

_"1...go!" Kira shouted, and then they both jumped off the swings together. Cyrus felt his heart snap in half as TJ and Kira continued their playful banter._

_He turned around and leaned against the tree, breathing heavily._

_After turning to look back at them for a moment, he started his walk back to the sale, never having given TJ the shirt._

-

As TJ was about to get back on the swing, he noticed the disheartened look on Cyrus' face, his eyes focused on his shoes.

"Cyrus?" he spoke, worriedly. No response.

"Cyrus," he repeated with more urgency. "Are you okay?"

Cyrus looked up at him, quickly shaking his head and putting on a smile. "Yeah, no, everything's fine. It was nothing."

TJ was about to say something, when Cyrus continued, "you-you did great with your, jump and everything."

 _I did great with my jump and everything?_ TJ thought. _Why is he trying to change the subject?_

"I- what?" TJ said. "You've already seen me jump off a swing before. Cyrus, what's wrong?"

"Nothing," Cyrus insisted as he looked at TJ in the eyes. Then he dropped his gaze to the ground and sighed. "It's-it's stupid. I should've just forgotten about this by now."

"Forgotten about what?" TJ asked softly, and kneeled down in front of him.

"It was like weeks ago, and it's not even that big a deal, I don't-" Cyrus paused as tears stung in his eyes. "I don't know why I even have to be thinking about this right now. Everything's done and I'm supposed to be happy."

"Cy, just tell me. I'm not going to judge you, you know that, right?"

"I know. But it's just- it's barely even significant and I don't want to upset you when we're supposed to be having a good time," Cyrus elucidated as he looked back up at TJ.

"If you're this upset, it's clearly valid. I want to help."

"But it's not-" Cyrus cut himself off. "I-I mean if I tell you I just... I don't want you to think that- ugh. Why is this so difficult?"

"I'm going to be more worried if you don't tell me."

"IsawyouontheswingswithKira," Cyrus mumbled quickly under his breath, looking away. His hands were tightly gripping the chains of the swing.

"Underdog, you're gonna have to speak up," TJ told him, having not understood what he said.

Cyrus sighed he turned his eyes back to TJ. "Do you remember that day I texted you asking if you wanted a shirt from the free sale I helped put on?"

TJ thought back and remembered how Kira had coerced him onto the swings, and slightly shivered as he shook his head.

"Yeah, sorry I couldn't come. I sort of got tied up." He grimaced, thinking of when he had to put away his phone to not raise suspicion in front of Kira.

"I know," Cyrus replied, his lips stretched into a thin line. He wasn't meeting TJ's gaze.

"I really wanted t-" TJ stopped when Cyrus' words had processed in his brain. "You...what?"

"I guess I misunderstood when you texted me that you were at the park." TJ's eyes widened in fear as Cyrus continued. "I thought I was supposed to bring it to you, but then..."

"You saw me on the swings with Kira," TJ concluded, sadly.

"Yeah..."

"You know I meant it when I implied she was a witch, right?"

"What are you saying?" Cyrus furrowed his brows as he met TJ's eyes once again.

"I'm so sorry I went on the swings with her, and that you had to see that, but I promise I really didn't want to. I never wanted to hang out with her at all," TJ admitted. "She was manipulating me almost every time we did, and I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner but I was scared. I _know_ I shouldn't have let her take advantage of me, I just didn't know what else to do at the time."

"She did what?!" Cyrus exclaimed. "TJ, I'm sorry, I had no idea. What did she say to you?"

"She came up to me before costume day and asked me to do one with her. Obviously, I said no, I already have one, so she asked me what it was," TJ started. "I told her the idea I was doing with you, and she basically just said, 'everybody loves an inside joke they don't understand!' At the time I was too excited for our costume to even notice it sounded rude. But then she pushed further to convince me like, 'my costume idea is _really_ cool.' Spoiler alert: it wasn't. So I said, 'nah, I'm set.'"

TJ sighed as he said, "that's when she dropped the bombshell."

Cyrus looked at him worriedly, and asked softly, "what did she say?"

"It wasn't really explicit; but her tone and facial expressions made it clear what she was implying...she said, 'so you'd rather do a costume with _Cyrus_ than with _me_ ,' and then told me to have _fun_ with that, like, like something bad was going to happen if I went through with it..." TJ finished, avoiding eye contact.

Cyrus felt a pang in his heart as he looked at TJ in sympathy. "I'm sorry."

TJ looked up. "Why are _you_ sorry? I'm the one who ditched you with no explanation and for your best friend's enemy, no less."

"TJ, I'm sorry because what you went through was awful and you didn't deserve that. I mean, yeah, you should have called me in advance, but you probably had a reason for that, too. The important thing is that you're here now, and you're not letting her use you anymore."

"Thanks, Cyrus." TJ smiled gratefully, and stood up to walk back over to his swing.

"No problem. You can always tell me anything, you know?"

"I know. And I should probably start now."

"With what?" Cyrus questioned, confused.

TJ bit his lip as he held onto the chains of his own swing. "Well...I didn't really say much last week. You know...at the party."

Cyrus nodded. "But...you're ready to now?"

"I think so," TJ replied, nervously.

"Well, I'm right here. And I'm not going anywhere," Cyrus smiled reassuringly. "I mean, unless you were to tell me to leave; but I don't think that's happening, because you said you wanted to talk."

"So, I think I probably kind of made this obvious last week. But I wanted to make sure it was clear...anyway. Here it goes."

Cyrus just gave a small nod to say it was okay.

TJ looked at the ground as he continued, "I really like you, Cyrus. Like, I have a crush on you. I have for a while, I think maybe since I met you. And I understand if you don't feel the same way, and you think maybe you made a mistake holding my hand on the bench. But I thought you should know. So...yeah."

"TJ, I really like you, too," Cyrus told him, smiling wildly. He felt tears welling in his eyes with how overjoyed this made him. It felt even better to hear it confirmed, than when TJ had just vaguely hinted it and held his hand. "To be honest, I've been having those same anxieties all week with the party not really being talked about. I was worried it might've just been in my head. But it's not, and I feel so happy."

By now, TJ had raised his head and was looking at Cyrus with the biggest smile on his face. He let out a breath he didn't know he was holding, and blinked back tears of happiness. Cyrus returned the same smile, and TJ reached out to grab the brunette's hand. As he interlocked their fingers together, he just thought to himself, wondering what on earth he did to deserve for such an amazing, kind, caring boy like Cyrus to come into his world and make it so great that he can't imagine life without him. Whatever it was, he would do it again and again if it meant he'd never have to lose him.

"TJ, do you maybe want to-uh, be my boyfriend?" Cyrus asked, hopefully.

"I would love to. More than anything," TJ responded. "Can I tell you something?"

"Anything," Cyrus assured him.

"I want you to know that you're the most important thing in my life to me. I don't know what I did to deserve you, or how I got so lucky as so know you, but one thing I do know is that I never want to be without you. So whatever happens, whatever relation you have to me throughout my life, I just want you _in_ my life. You make my life better, and I'm happiest when I'm around you. And I hope that no one ever makes you feel less than how amazing you are to me."

Tears came to Cyrus' eyes again as he listened to TJ pour his heart out. How was this even possible? It was like he was dreaming, but somehow this was real life. He was in such awe and could not control his emotions as the tears rolled down his cheeks.

"TJ...that is the sweetest, most amazing thing anyone has ever said to me," Cyrus finally spoke. "You have no idea how much that means to me, like I can't even believe this is real life. I really don't deserve you, I just- you're so amazing."

Cyrus stood up from his swing and rushed over to TJ's swing, engulfing him in a hug. TJ stood up to hug him back, and rested his head on Cyrus' shoulder.

"And for the record, I'd never want to be without you either. I don't think I could ever top that speech you just gave me, but you mean so much to me and I never want to lose you," Cyrus continued.

"I love you, Cy," TJ told him, before pulling out of the hug.

"I love you, too, TJ." Cyrus softly kissed his right cheek, smiling when it caused a blush from the blonde.

They both sat back down on their swings and spent the next hour just enjoying each other's company.

**Author's Note:**

> ^w^


End file.
